The Osceola times., 1887-09-03

JAMES l$lSIoN,
Treas.
Just exactly how, or by what pro-
cess of logical deduction the language
in which the cause of complaint re-
fered to, could be twisted and per-
verted, into even the semblance ofa
charge of dishonoring" school or
ders, we are at loss to know; es-
pecially to the extent of eliciting
such an emphatic, ungentlemanly
and uncalled for reply. The gist
of the complaint was that the Treas
urer refused to attend to the duties
of the Treasurer's office until such
time as suited his will and pleasure,
regardless of the inconvenience such
a course put those who had dealings
with the County Treasurer.
1t is well known fact that the
large majority Of great public men,
spring, generally by accident, from
the obscurity which hedges in the
common herd, and few seem to pos
sess the gift of remembering the
source from whence sprung their
greatness-the herd, from whom all
power, in this broad and tree coun-
try, is derived. Under the laws,
each and every American citizen has
the right to inquire into the acts of
his servants, the officers, and to crit
icise and censure any dereliction of
public duty; and no right is inherent
or vested by authority of law in any
public officer, to act like a iretfnl
porcupine and throw out his bist-
ling quilts on the least intimatlon
that his manner Of conducting the
affairs Of his office is unsatisfactory
to his constituents and contrary to
The spirit and letter of the law
All officers are presumed to be
human, and liable to err, hence the
reserved right to correct on the part
Of the people.
This summary disposition Of a
matter directly affecting the public
interest, though perhaps, considered
trivial and of no moment by the
County Treasurer, is contrary to the
genius Of our free institution. Eng
land, tits true, furnishes a solitary
spectacle of such an arbitrary meth
od of dealing with her Irish subjects,
but here, in this free and enlighten-
country, where the most humble
citizen has a right to be heard, this
autocratic method of disposing of
public issues will not be tolerated.
Besides, this style of argument is
neither genteel, logical nor convinc-
ing; and like the man who empha-
sizes his statements with All oath, un-
consciously throws a suspicion over
his own declarations.
The following sworn statement
speaks for itself:
OsCEoLA, ARK, Sept. 2, 1887.
l, F. A. Coffmau, affirm that on
or about the llth. day of August,
presented school warrant from the
Directors of School District No. Is.
properly signed, for $35, to Mr.
Liston for payment, and that he as.
sured me positively that there was
no money in the Treasury for that
District. On my persisting, and
telling him that | knew, and had
reason to believe there was money
due said district, he walked behind
his counter and showed me what he
claimed was list of the School dis
tricts with the amounts due each set
opposite, and that District Is and
% were left blank.
[Slgned, +. A. CoFrMAN.
Sworn to, and subscribed before me
this 2nd. day of September, 1887.
N. G. CARTWRIGHT, J. p.
1t may be well, perhaps, to add,
that 1t took from the time Mr.. Cof.
man made this demand, until the
18th, the interim in which the 'fuss'
was made, for the Treasurer to dis
cover that there was actually $751;
So to the credit of this District.
For lack of time, and insufficient
mail facilities, other sworn state
ments did not reach us in time for
this issue. They will appear in our
next, when the citlze,s of the coun-
ty can form their own opinions and
render their verdict as to who 'lied'
T., fh,e ,,ottar